Rough Microsoft product outline has Windows 8 coming in mid to late 2011. Think it’ll happen?

Ya ya I know, we’ve seen countless posts about so called “leaked release dates” for Windows 8. Why all the hubub about Windows 8 when Windows 7 — easily Microsoft’s best OS yet — was just released not more than a few months ago? It’s simple, even though Windows 7 is Microsoft’s best ever and even bests Apple’s Snow Leopard in some areas, it isn’t anything to write home about. What I mean is, there isn’t any feature or features that make me want to drop a couple hundred dollars on it. Most people do because the feel they have to, not because they want to.

Looking at the roadmap above and larger PDF linked here, we can see that the “Windows 8?” placeholder has a nice little green slider sitting firmly in the middle of 2011. It kind of sounds a little ways away — until you look at a calendar and realize it’s less than 12 months away!

It’s worth stressing that these are preliminary outlines for Microsoft’s product development cycle and as does happen quite often, are subject to rather drastic changes. Could we really see Microsoft launch Windows 8 in mid/late 2011? It’s surely possible and according to this early report by Microsoft, an internal goal. I for one would like to see Windows 8 be the Microsoft OS that I actually want, not just get it because.

Think 2011 is too soon?

Electronista > Microsoft Kitchen

Author: Mike Norris

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Gadget lover, smartphone collector, and beer connoisseur. I've been writing about gadgets for three years now and loving every minute of it. Outside of the digital landscape, I enjoy being active outdoors. I'm always up for a good conversation, so feel free to drop me a line!